Re: No sound for non-root users

[Andrew Schulman <andrex@alumni.utexas.net>]

> The sound has stopped working for regular, non-root users on my 
> installation of Debian Etch (on a Dell PC with integrated Intel audio 
> chipset).
> 
> Sound still works for root (or using sudo), but when I try to run an 
> audio program as an ordinary user (eg mplayer, alsamixer), I get an 
> error saying, "No such device" or similar. All users are members of the 
> "audio" group.

ls -l /dev/dsp /dev/audio to check that both of those devices belong to the
'audio' group.

strace can probably tell you what's failing.  Look for failing open or
write calls.